The coking of coal is important to the steel making industry but involves a process which generates many pollutants hazardous to health. One of the most polluting operations in the coking of coal is the loading of coal into the coke ovens. Generally, the loading of coal is performed by transferring coal from hoppers located on a larry car adapted to ride on top of the coke ovens into the coke oven to be charged.
Many devices have been innovated to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted from the coke ovens during the charging of coal, such as sleeves on the hopper discharge tubes which are movable into the charging ports to effect a seal between the hopper and the coke oven to prevent effluents from being emitted from the coke oven through the charging ports. However, when the sleeves are raised, the lids to the charging ports which have been previously removed to allow the coal to be introduced into the coke oven must be replaced. Between the time that the sleeves are raised and the lids are positioned in place, effluents in the form of coal dust and the like can be and usually is emitted from the coke oven.